The present invention generally relates to slide or pump action firearms, and more particularly to pump action mechanisms and associated bolt slide locks for such firearms.
Conventional AR-type rifles fire from a closed locked breech in which the bolt is locked in axial position to the receiver or barrel assembly before firing. The bolt carrier or slide that carries the bolt, however, is free to move axially to a certain degree. Normally, the recoil spring holds the breech closed, but on a pump action firearm, the bolt carrier is rigidly coupled with a slideable pump handle of some type mounted on the stock forend which is used to cycle the action. The forces of grasping the pump handle can often pull the bolt out of battery unintentionally and cause an operating malfunction. A lock for the bolt carrier is needed for pump action rifles to prevent this situation. The lock mechanism needs to be active until firing, at which point the lock must release the bolt carrier to manually cycle the action for extracting and ejecting the spent shell casing, and chambering a new round from the magazine. A manual release of some type is also needed to manually unload the chamber. Previous slide locks are sometimes mounted in the lower receiver of an AR-type rifle along with the trigger-operated firing mechanism, which can complicate construction and assembly of the firearm.
Improvements in pump action mechanisms and associated bolt slide locks is desired.